Enough
by LionessoftheEast
Summary: Not Enough. The two words sum up Lacy's life, and she might have a reason to be bitter about it.


Disclaimer-I don't own Percy Jackson, nor any characters

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Written for sand castles and card houses's Book-Quotes challenge in Percy Jackson and the Land of Writing

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_"Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless?" Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre._

* * *

The first thing Lacy had asked when she arrived at Camp Half-Blood was who her mother was. She knew she was a Greek goddess, but that was all the information she had. At twelve, she might not know for a year.

The counselors had reassured her that her parent was definitely out there. They showed her the cabins for each god and goddess, but Lacy didn't feel a spark as she stepped over the thresholds to any of them. No fireworks burst out the door. No floating insignia over her head. She was almost convinced that she didn't belong.

All of the counselors, even Clarisse, just smiled and shook their head at her naïvety. "Of course you've got a godly parent," Annabeth had said. "You wouldn't be here if you didn't." Lacy would smile for a bit, and then sink back into her despair that the world she had just unlocked would be taken away.

Drew was the only counselor who didn't bother with her. Lacy pretended she couldn't hear the Aphrodite girl smirk and say, "No way she's _my _sister. Not pretty enough." Not pretty enough. The words echoed in her head, a reminder of the girls at her various middle schools. She wasn't pretty enough. She wasn't smart enough. She was too poor. She was plain and boring.

The story of her life, set out in two words. "Not enough."

* * *

She was claimed the day after her thirteenth birthday. The campfire reached nearly ten feet high in a burst of light, reacting to the loud voices of the Stoll brothers and Percy Jackson. They were singing about the Minotaur, with everyone else following along. Lacy stood near the back, mumbling along to the unfamiliar Greek words and laughing with delight as the three boys acted out the story in exaggerated movements.

The song ended in a long high note, and the flames dipped a bit with the muttering in the crowd. Percy, Travis, and Connor went back to their seats, high fiving their friends. Lacy watched the son of Poseidon sit next to Annabeth, slipping an arm around her waist. Lacy grinned. They worked together, she could see it.

And then someone next to her gasped loudly. "Hey! Look!"

The flames dipped lower as the campers turned their attention from their conversations to stare at Lacy.

She was suddenly aware of something glowing over her head. Frowning, she tried to look up at it, but it stayed anchored over the crown of her head, just out of her line of sight. She tried to swat at it, but her hands passed over the whatever-it-was like it wasn't there.

"No way," she heard some people murmuring through the crowd. "Aphrodite? Who would've guessed?"

"Lacy," Chiron interrupted, sending glares at the instigators of the incredulous muttering, "we welcome you to the Aphrodite cabin of Camp Half-Blood."

Lacy's heart dropped to her feet. Aphrodite meant Drew.

_Not enough. _

* * *

The next day, Lacy woke up in her new bunk in the perfect doll house that was the Aphrodite cabin.

The other girls had movie posters and boy bands plastered the walls next to their bunks, but Lacy put up one measly poster for an obscure anime series from the '90s. The other girls dressed up in their makeup and skirts, giggling delightedly about their newest love interest. Lacy washed her face with soap and water, twisted her hair up into a pony tail, and sat on her bunk, watching with disgust as her half siblings waltzed around the cabin.

They almost ignored her completely, and Lacy would have been okay with that. She could deal with being the outcast, as long as she didn't actually have to spend time with them other than sword practice and meals. But then Drew decided to speak up.

She pulled Lacy aside, smiling like she was on a magazine cover. "Honey, it's okay to be all aloof. Don't hide it. I would be bitter too, that Aphrodite didn't give me the good genes. Except, she did. But don't worry. We don't have any control." With a superior smile, Drew flounced out the door.

Lacy stood, staring at her ratty sneakers. Her cheeks burned in shame. She ought to be bitter, shouldn't she? Drew was right. She obviously hadn't gotten the "good" genes. She wasn't beautiful or desirable.

With a sigh, she sat down on her bunk, putting her head in her hands. Bitter. Even the word tasted wrong in her mouth.

* * *

When Piper was claimed, none of the Aphrodite campers knew what to do. Drew tried to assert her power over the girl, only to find out that her Charmspeak didn't work. The other campers sort of just watched, standing awkwardly around Piper, not sure what to say to a girl who clearly didn't want to be there.

Lacy and Mitchell were the only ones who really talked to her, smiling and giving her advice. Even so, Piper seemed to look down at them a little, especially when Lacy shivered at the nurse's shoes or Mitchell dismissed Drew's dictator-like leadership tactics with a shrug.

But what impressed Lacy most about Piper was that she was beautiful and she didn't care. She obviously had no reason to be bitter about anything, and she wasn't plain at all. She looked powerful, and even Drew could see it. Lacy almost felt… well, jealous.

Not to mention, Drew's careless comment hung over her head in every bad way possible.

Piper came back from both of her quests. She had survived it all, and Lacy was in awe. But despite the fact that she knew it was wrong, she felt a little bitter. Why couldn't it have been her?

She still wasn't enough.

* * *

Studying Drew's actions around Piper became her habit. It was obvious the darker haired girl was insanely jealous, and it made her vindictive and snappy. Drew ignored her half-siblings, argued with everyone, and made faces whenever she could. Lacy was a daughter of Aphrodite, and she knew how feelings worked. Drew was bitter, and it was ruining her.

So one summer day, watching her once-counselor sitting alone on a bench next to the basketball courts, her downcast eyes watching her sandals swing back and forth, Lacy decided something. She wasn't ever going to be like Drew. She refused to be bitter; refused to let it ruin her. Because despite what had been said to her, what was her reason to hate?

Lacy had her siblings. Piper was her sort-of friend. She might not be the most beautiful, or the most interesting of the Aphrodite girls, but she had a heart. One thing came to mind as she decided this.

_Enough. _


End file.
